Never Again!

Imagine being stuck in a small room which you are not allowed to leave… The small room has only one solitary window from where you can see the lives of the rest pass by… some shopping, others playing with their kids, still others taking a leisurely stroll, many enjoying the light breeze, some enjoying the sun … but you can never be a part of all of this… you are only a spectator… you can watch by the sidelines… but you can never be a part of this life…

What would your reaction be? Probably you'd be jealous, eventually you'd curse your fate, sometimes you would cry, at other times you'd howl, but to no avail… In the eyes of the state you shouldn't be where you are... you should have been dead since long… you don't exist for the state… your existence has been obliterated… If they discovered that you were still alive, you'd be packed off to Auschwtiz or Bergen Belsen or Dachau… Your neighbors and friends, aware as they might be of your existence choose to forget you… Its safest for them that way… You are a part of their life that they have long forgotten… Some who still care drop off food and drinks once in a while, but they know that they do it at a  great risk to themselves… 

Of what use would such an existence be? Some would say that it is better to be incinerated or gassed at once rather than live through the pain of having to die through a million cuts… But you still want to live don't you? You want to see that sun shine down on your face, that gentle evening breeze ruffling your hair, that friendly pat on the back, that smile on someone's face when they greet you… But would you be able to see all that? You don't know… It is a constant battle between the will to survive and the unending doubt on making it through… 

And then one fine day…. There are knocks on the door!

Anne Frank's diary is one of the most read books in modern times… The life of a teenage girl as she grapples through a plethora of complex emotions may not make an interesting read but the fact that she had hopes, aspirations and the dream to see the sunshine make her diary one of the most touching books… The knock on the door that sent her and her family and friends to their deaths in Nazi Concentration Camps is an example of how men can trample on someone's hopes and desires and how there is always more to it than the seemingly simple stratification of society into us and them, Palestinians and Israelis, Hindus and Muslims, Jews and the others...

If only the we had understood Anne's story, there would be no Congo, no Darfur, no Rwanda…They say that history delivers the most powerful lessons, only that we choose to ignore it!